Security Sales & Integration May 2021 - 27

clearer focus more on the integration business,
away from conventional alarm service. "
In January, it was announced that Lee Technology of Austin, Texas (acquired in 2020) and
San Diego-based TekWorks (2019) would do
business as Paladin Technologies. Those moves
left Vancouver, British Columbia-headquartered
Paladin (see Fast Facts for more) with approximately 1,000 associates working out of 23 locations
across Canada and the U.S. Included in that is
the firm's electrical business, Action Electric.
Currently, Paladin designs and installs technology solutions including integrated security,
network infrastructure, A/V, fiber optics OSP,
structured cabling, unified communications
and more across vertical markets like energy
generation & transmission, healthcare, government, institutional and banking. Its high-profile clientele includes Nokia, Monster Energy,
DirectTV and Western Digital.
As the following conversation Paladin Technologies leadership engaged in with Security
Sales & Integration indicates, the company is
putting substance behind proven conventions
for success such as strong culture, high technical
IQ and exceeding expectations. Joining in with
Morton is Vice President Joe Morris, Director
of Marketing Stephanie Whalen and Executive
Vice President of Technology David Sime.
What is Paladin Technologies' primary
go-to value proposition to a prospective
customer?
Iain Morton: It's really that we provide good

guidance to customers on what we can and cannot do. We have and will decline pursuits where
we would be over the skis, so to speak. We will
build up and learn from that until we are ready.
The good thing about this industry in the place
we play in is it's not transactional, it's recurring. What happened three years ago is going
to happen again in terms of an opportunity to
win a client's business. They'll turn to you when
they're looking for companies that will be what
they say, follow through and finish the job, no
matter if it's going fabulous or if there's issues.
We'll know what they're doing, we'll invest in
the people to train them and support them.
That's the value proposition we try to get
across. It's not through words on a page, it's
talking to our people and other clients, it's referrals, and it's references from manufacturers.
They're the ones who sometimes get the call
back saying, " Your product has been the perfect

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SS2105 pp26-31 Paladin.indd 27

solution but I can't get good support " or " They
didn't integrate it well " or " It's not working well
on my network. " Those are the end users they
influenced back over to us, perhaps as a service
option in the future. That opens up doors and
when you open those doors it's very much a
follower type of market. Sometimes in certain
complex verticals when you're successful with
one client you can parlay that, and it will become subsequently spreadable.

Underpinning everything are our core values
and a client-first focus. Our teams are focused
on working together and communicating well
internally. We don't have internal competition
like some companies. We work really collaboratively. We look at people development as our
No. 1 tactic and strategy.
On the technical side, we look at innovation
carefully and don't jump on something just
because it's the hot potato and being pitched
out there. We remain prudent in what we do.
That's allowed us to cautiously but assertively
move quickly into an adjacency. It's all flowing
from being able to be an expert in one area,
in one region or through one merger and then
being able to expand it into the others. That's
really going to be a linchpin of our continuing
growth and how we move into new markets.

Paladin's core value of people
development drives the
commitment to investing in
training.

Continuing with that, what is the outlook and strategy of organic versus acquisitive growth, what are the targets?
Morton: We've made some nice mergers and

acquisitions the past few years that follow great
due diligence. One is about the character of the
MAY 2021 Security Sales & Integration

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Security Sales & Integration May 2021

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